RidgewayGirl's Year of Whim and Inclination -- Fourth Quarter

Welcome to the last three months of 2023. The picture this time is Simpatía (La rabia del gato) by Spanish artist Remedios Varo. Her art is wild and imaginative and full of mysterious wonders. It has stuck in my mind since I saw the exhibition of her work at the Art Institute in August.



Here's a brief article about her: https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/aia-reviews/science-fictions-remedios-var...

Currently Reading



Recently Read



Recently Acquired

First Quarter Reading

January

1. Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
2. Flight by Lynne Steger Strong
3. Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
4. Cherry by Mary Karr
5. Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang
6. 1,000 Coils of Fear by Olivia Wenzel, translated from the German by Priscilla Layne
7. The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
8. A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp
9. The No-Show by Beth O'Leary
10. How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
11. Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz

February

1. 2 A.M. in Little America by Ken Kalfus
2. Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
3. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
4. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
5. Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones
6. An Island by Karen Jennings
7. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
8. The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
9. Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

March

1. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
2. The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
3. My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi
4. Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
5. Call and Response by Gothataone Moeng
6. Sinking Bell: Stories by Bojan Louis
7. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li
8. Life for Sale by Yukio Mishima, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Dodd

Second Quarter Reading

April

1. Central Places by Delia Cai
2. Find Him by Jake Hinkson
3. The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent
4. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
5. Never Suck a Dead Man's Hand: Curious Adventures of a CSI by Dana Kollmann
6. Kurashi at Home by Marie Kondo
7. Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies
8. The Laughter by Sonora Jha
9. Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
10. An Honest Living by Dwyer Murphy

May

1. 48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister by Joyce Carol Oates
2. Autumn by Ali Smith (reread)
3. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
4. The Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKenzie
5. The Midnight News by Jo Baker
6. Black Dog White Cat: Stories by Kelly Link
7. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
8. A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino, translated from the Japanese by Giles Murray
9. My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin
10. Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda
11. The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman

June

1. Chlorine by Jade Song
2. Brother & Sister Enter the Forest by Richard Mirabella
3. Winter by Ali Smith
4. Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
5. Circe by Madeline Miller
6. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
7. Couplets by Maggie Millner
8. Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell
9. Silent Winds, Dry Seas by Vinod Busjeet

Third Quarter Reading

July

1. Mobility by Lydia Kiesling
2. Homestead by Melinda Moustakis
3. Haven by Emma Donoghue
4. Western Lane by Chetna Maroo
5. How Can I Help You by Laura Sims
6. If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane
7. The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier, translated from the French by Daniel Levin Becker
8. Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day
9. My Murder by Katie Williams
10. The Guest by Emma Cline
11. The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon
12. Device Free Weekend by Sean Doolittle

August

1. Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
2. Prom Mom by Laura Lippman
3. I am Homeless if This is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore
4. The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
5. 48 States by Evette Davis
6. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

September

1. Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery
2. Spring by Ali Smith
3. Lazy City by Rachel Connolly
4. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, translated from the Japanese by Megan Backus
5. The Devil's Bed by William Kent Krueger
6. LaRose by Louise Erdrich
7. Company: Stories by Shannon Sanders
8. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
9. Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson

The Lists

Books by Author's Nationality

Argentina
Mariana Enriquez (Our Share of Night)

Botswana
Gothataone Moeng (Call and Response)

Britain
Kate Atkinson (Normal Rules Don't Apply: Stories)
Jo Baker (The Midnight News)
Graeme Macrae Burnet (Case Study)
Imogen Crimp (A Very Nice Girl)
Heather Darwent (The Things We Do to Our Friends)
Chetna Maroo (Western Lane)
Mhairi McFarlane (If I Never Met You)
David Mitchell (The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet)
Beth O'Leary (The No-Show)
Ali Smith (Autumn, Winter, Spring)

Cameroon
Imbolo Mbue (How Beautiful We Were)

Canada
John Elizabeth Stintzi (My Volcano)
Antoine Wilson (Mouth to Mouth)

China
R.F. Kuang (Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution)
Yiyun Li (The Book of Goose, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers)

Egypt
Naguib Mahfouz (Palace Walk)

France
Laurent Mauvignier (The Birthday Party)

Germany
Olivia Wenzel (1,000 Coils of Fear)

India
Sonora Jha (The Laughter)
Rohinton Mistry (A Fine Balance)

Ireland
Rachel Connolly (Lazy City)
Emma Donoghue (Haven)
Nicole Flattery (Nothing Special)
Louise Kennedy (Trespasses)
Paul Murray (The Bee Sting)

Japan
Keigo Higashino (A Death in Tokyo)
Marie Kondo (Kurashi at Home)
Yukio Mishima (Life for Sale)
Banana Yoshimoto (Kitchen)

Mauritius
Vinod Busjeet (Silent Winds, Dry Seas)

New Zealand
Eleanor Catton (Birnam Wood)

South Africa
Karen Jennings (An Island)

Sri Lanka
Shehan Karunatilaka (The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida)

Sudan
Tayeb Salih (Season of Migration to the North)

USA
Julia Bartz (The Writing Retreat)
Elif Batuman (The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them)
Jen Beagin (Big Swiss)
Angeline Boulley (The Firekeeper's Daughter)
Delia Cai (Central Places)
Elaine Hsieh Chou (Disorientation)
Emma Cline (The Guest)
Sean Doolittle (Device Free Weekend)
Kim Edwards (The Memory Keeper's Daughter)
Louise Erdrich (LaRose)
Daisy Alpert Florin (My Last Innocent Year)
Tess Gunty (The Rabbit Hutch)
Jake Hinkson (Find Him)
Jenny Jackson (Pineapple Street)
Stephen Graham Jones (Don't Fear the Reaper)
Ken Kalfus (2 A.M. in Little America)
Mary Karr (Cherry)
Lydia Kiesling (Mobility)
Dana Kollmann (Never Suck a Dead Man's Hand: Curious Adventures of a CSI)
William Kent Krueger (The Devil's Bed)
Catherine Lacey (Biography of X)
Kelly Link (Black Dog White Cat: Stories)
Laura Lippman (Prom Mom)
Bojan Louis (Sinking Bell: Stories)
Anthony Marra (Mercury Pictures Presents)
Elizabeth McKenzie (The Dog of the North)
Clémence Michallon (The Quiet Tenant)
Madeline Miller (Circe)
Maggie Millner (Couplets)
Richard Mirabella (Brother & Sister Enter the Forest)
Lorrie Moore (I am Homeless if This is Not My Home)
Melinda Moustakis (Homestead)
Dwyer Murphy (An Honest Living)
Joyce Carol Oates (48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister)
Ivy Pochoda (Sing Her Down)
Lori Rader-Day (Death at Greenway)
Shannon Sanders (Company: Stories)
Laura Sims (How Can I Help You)
Curtis Sittenfeld (Romantic Comedy)
Brendan Slocumb (The Violin Conspiracy)
Jade Song (Chlorine)
Lynne Steger Strong (Flight)
Luis Alberto Urrea (Good Night, Irene)
Katie Williams (My Murder)
Gabrielle Zevin (Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow)

Welcome. Come in and tell me what art has delighted you lately.